The Home and Garden Cafe is participating in the Lazy Summer Reads Book Hop hosted by eReading on the Cheap and Midwestern Moms. The best part is we’re giving away a $10 Amazon gift card to help you fund your summer reading!

I love to read during the summer whenever I get the chance! I like to stretch out on the hammock, curl up on the chair on the front porch, or head to the pool! It seems like there’s never enough time to read during the busy summer, but I try to get in as much lazy reading time as possible! I want to help you buy a book for your summer reading pleasure.

Enter to win a $10 Amazon to fund your summer reading on the Rafflecopter form below. This blog hop runs from June 1 – 8 at 11:59 EST, open to US residents only, void where prohibited.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out all the other great book related giveaways in this hop to get your lazy summer reads!

Allen’s Veggies in partnership with Wholly Guacamole (Have you ever tried their guacamole? Yum!) is looking for super creative at-home cooks to compete their third annual nationwide recipe contest, Feast Your Veggies On This. The contest is held to celebrate a healthy diet and Eat All Your Veggies Day.

Allens is sponsoring Feast Your Veggies On This in a continued effort to promote healthy eating habits, and to honor the nation’s 2012 best veggie cooks. They are taking submissions for the contest now! So dust off one of your favorite veggie recipes and enter! Don’t wait around, if you’re an at home cook you can submit recipes now through June 17th.

We love veggies at our house! I think I might have to pick a recipe and enter this contest! I try to eat as many vegetables as I can every day, of course my son doesn’t always agree to that strategy, so I try to get creative and make them as flavorful as possible.

The first place winner will win a one-year supply of Allens vegetables and one year supply of Wholly Guacamole! The winners will be announced on June 25th. For more information, you can visit Allen’s website or on Allen’s Facebook wall.

Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post, I just wanted to share this fun contest with my readers. All opinions are my own, as always.

I saw a recipe for tuna avocado patties a few weeks ago, but I can’t for anything find it now so I can link back to it! I just glanced at the recipe, but I’ve been making my own grain free tuna avocado patties since. I wouldn’t have thought to combine the two in a patty, but I have to say, I really like the result!

I’ve had tuna patties since I was a little kid, but I’ve never been crazy about them. I am a big fan of avocado though! So when I saw the recipe I knew I had to give it a try.

I haven’t posted many recipes lately, but I’ve been gluten (and grain) free for almost 2 years now. I still make recipes with wheat and grains for the rest of my family, but I make a grain free version for myself. That’s exactly what I did to these tuna avocado patties, now their my lunchtime staple, over a bed of salad greens, with a little homemade honey mustard dressing.

Here’s the recipe I’ve been using:

Grain Free Tuna Avocado Patty Recipe

Ingredients:

1 can tuna (drained)
1/2 avocado (diced)
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 egg
1-2 tablespoons almond flour
1-2 tablespoons coconut oil for frying (optional)

Directions:

1. Mash the avocado in a medium bowl with a fork, then add the egg, tuna, almond flour, and onion.
2. Stir and mash all the ingredients together in the bowl.

3. Form into patties and fry in a skillet with the coconut oil, or a little olive oil. If you don’t want to fry your tuna avocado patties, you can also bake them.

This recipe will make about 3-4 patties, and will serve at least two people. You can easily double or triple the recipe to serve more.

These is very low carb recipe, since they don’t have any grains or starches in them. They’re also really yummy if you’re an avocado fan! I haven’t tried it yet, but I bet this would be great with chicken or salmon substituted for the tuna. I’ll have to give it a try and let you know!

I just finished reading A Chance of Fate by Emleigh Walsh.

Here’s a quick summary:

Stephanie is finally getting over a rocky marriage and moving on. She’s opening up a cafe with a good friend of hers when she bumps into Chance McGregor on the street and sparks fly. Chance is the Dominion Creek Pack Guardian it’s his job to protect the pack and its laws. When Chance find’s out there have been rogue wolves in the area he does his best to keep Stephanie out of harms way, but the trouble seems to be heading straight for her door.

I really enjoyed this book, it was an easy read because I was hooked from the beginning. I like that the book had a very strong hero and heroine in Chance and Stephanie. Neither one was afraid to stand up for what they believed in.

I also like that A Chance of Fate is a stand alone book, not part of a series. Emleigh does plan to create at least one more book with some of the other characters in the story, but Chance and Stephanie’s story had a beginning a middle and an end. So many paranormal romance novels I read never seem to end, and leave you hanging on a cliffhanger for months until the author gets the next book done. Sometimes there’s something to be said for a stand alone one book story!

I had the opportunity to ask Emleigh a few questions about Chance of Fate, it’s characters, and what she’s up to next. You can check out her answers below.

An Interview With Emleigh Walsh

What was your inspiration for the main characters in A Chance of Fate?

Neither Stephanie or Chance was inspired by anyone in particular. But the paranormal genre, especially vamps and werewolves, really intrigue me. The men are so alpha-male and that’s just sexy! But a women has to be pretty strong-minded to be mated with such a commanding male from the supernatural world. So Stephanie made sure I knew that she would be able to handle Chance. She had learned from her past experiences that she couldn’t be weak-willed when it came to men – no matter how exciting and arousing she found the wolf…uh, man.

When you pick up a book, who is your favorite author and why?

There are too many “favorites” to answer this question easily. I love almost all things romance. The spicier the better! Currently I’m finishing the Compass Brother series by Mari Carr and Jayne Rylon. But I love Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, Mandy M. Roth, Shelly Laurenston, J.R. Ward, and Alexandra Ivy in the paranormal genre. Also, Cat Fox, Lorelei James and Stacy Espino write great contemporary and/or erotic romance. And that’s just the start of the list!!

When did you know you had to become an author?

I always loved to read and to write. But I gave them both up for about 20 years. It wasn’t until I finished college (at the tender age of 42) that I re-discovered my obsessive love of books. It also led to the urgent need to start writing all the books I’d been thinking about for years…”when I could find the time”. It occurred to me that I would never FIND the time – I had to MAKE the time. I had made the time for school so why couldn’t I make the time for writing? Once I realized that, the words just starting oozing of my brain and on to paper!

What’s coming next for Emleigh? Any more books we should be looking out for in the near future?

Now that I’ve learned a thing or two after publishing my first book, I’m getting a little more ambitious. I’m working on the next Dominion Creek Pack book. This one will be Dane and Eric’s story, and will include a ménage relationship. While it’s not going to be erotic, it’ll definitely be steamy! I’m also going to try my hand at an erotic short story or two.

You can find A Chance of Fate:  Kindle / Paperback / Nook

Visit other stops on the book tour, or enter to win the tour prize here: A Chance of Fate Tour and Giveaway

HE’S TERRIFIED

Chance McGregor is known as one of the toughest werewolves around. As the Dominion Creek Pack Guardian it’s his job to protect the pack and its laws. Even if that requires him to find his true mate or mate with someone of the council’s choosing. With the Mating Ceremony fast approaching – and Chance a very unwilling participant – he has more on his mind than pack safety. It’s enough to make even the baddest werewolf whine like a puppy.

SHE’S IN CONTROL

Stephanie Taylor is finally making her way in the world. She’s out of a bad marriage, starting a business with her best friend in a great new town, and in control of her stable – if not sometimes boring – life. She can handle boring and she doesn’t need a man to tell her what’s best for her anymore.

WHAT’S A WOLF TO DO?

When Chance runs into Stephanie on the street, he realizes that he found his woman. The problem is she’s a human. Not a problem for him though. Now all he has to do is convince her that they are meant to be together forever; talk the ever-meddling pack council into allowing the mating; and protect his pack from a group of rogue wolves wreaking havoc across the state. With their hearts, and lives, on the line Chance and Stephanie will do the only thing they can…

TAKE A CHANCE ON FATE

Buy it Kindle / Paperback / Nook

Follow the tour!

Tour Prize – $10 Amazon Giftcard, an Autographed copy of A Chance of Fate, Mouse pad, and a coffee cup. Open to US residents. Please fill out the form to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway

–

I just finished reading Choices by Liz Schulte. Choices is the second book in the Guardian Trilogy. I’ve also read Secrets, the first book of the trilogy. I have to say I’m definitely hooked! I really enjoyed the characters, especially Olivia.

Here’s a quick synopsis of Choices:

Hearts break. Loved ones are lost. Life keeps moving.

Olivia Martin’s afterlife was more dangerous and confusing than her life ever was. She thought she was ready to come back, to forget about Holden and to let go of the rage consuming her. Fulfilling her destiny as a guardian was all that mattered—the past could stay hidden in the crevices of her mind. However, when guardians are murdered and the evidence points towards jinn, she has to do something. To save anyone’s future, Olivia will have to confront the one person from her past she is terrified to see.

Holden waited for Olivia with the hope he would see her one more time. But when she didn’t return, he found salvation in darkness. The black and twisted road made it easier to forget what he lost than to live with the memory of what he had. An unexpected promotion shoves him into a world of intoxicating power and influence. Holden will have to choose between his new life and the woman he thought was gone forever.

From the ashes of Secrets, Choices are born that will change everything.

Like I said above, I’m definitely a fan of this series! I love how the characters have developed. I think Liz Schulte is becoming one of my favorite authors! Holden is the ultimate bad boy, and you’ve still got to love him!

She also has a great love triangle going on between Holden, Olivia and Quintus. I love how she switched perspective each chapter between the 3 characters, and told the story from their point of view. I think it helped me connect with the characters more to see inside their head, and to know what they were thinking.

I couldn’t put the book down, so I read it in a little over a day from start to finish! I can’t wait to see what happens in the final book, and how things end up between the characters.

I went straight from Secrets to Choices because I was hooked from the start, now I’m anxiously awaiting the final book!

Buy it Paperback/Kindle/ Nook

**Right now this book is free for Kindle if you have Amazon Prime!

Follow Liz Schulte on Twitter / Facebook / Blog

Each day there is a new stop on this book tour. You can check out more excerpts from the book, author interviews, and more reviews if you want to follow the tour here are the links:

Author Liz Schulte is giving away a $50 Amazon Giftcard & 5 Autographed Print Copies, you can check it out and enter to win here: Choices Book Tour

Disclosure: I received a copy of Choices by Liz Schulte to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own. I may receive a commission if you purchase the book through one of the links in this post.

Choices (The Guardian Trilogy)

Hearts break. Loved ones are lost. Life keeps moving.

Olivia Martin’s afterlife was more dangerous and confusing than her life ever was. She thought she was ready to come back, to forget about Holden and to let go of the rage consuming her. Fulfilling her destiny as a guardian was all that mattered—the past could stay hidden in the crevices of her mind. However, when guardians are murdered and the evidence points towards jinn, she has to do something. To save anyone’s future, Olivia will have to confront the one person from her past she is terrified to see.

Holden waited for Olivia with the hope he would see her one more time. But when she didn’t return, he found salvation in darkness. The black and twisted road made it easier to forget what he lost than to live with the memory of what he had. An unexpected promotion shoves him into a world of intoxicating power and influence. Holden will have to choose between his new life and the woman he thought was gone forever.

From the ashes of Secrets, Choices are born that will change everything.

Buy it Paperback
/Kindle/ Nook

Follow Liz Schulte on Twitter / Facebook / Blog

Follow the Tour:

Author Liz Schulte is giving away a $50 Amazon Giftcard & 5 Autographed Print Copies.

Fill out the form below to enter

a Rafflecopter giveaway